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Letter
"L" Glossary
lady chapel
Major chapels dedicated to the Virgin Mary, usually located
in the west-east axis of a church at its east end behind the
apse or hemicyle.
lancet
Slender windows with pointed lancet arches at the top, common
in Gothic architecture.
lantern
Windowed superstructures crowning a dome, and serving to give
light or air to the space below.
lapis
lazuli A costly semi-precious blue stone native
to the Middle East pulverized for use in a rich blue pigment
(ultramarine) used frequently for painting the robe of the
Virgin Mary.
Latin
cross
Church buildings whose plan is designed in the form of a cross
with two short lateral arms (transept arms) and one long arm
(nave).
lean-to
roof
Pitched wooden roof with only one slope. In church architecture,
a lean-to roof usually covers and protects the exterior surface
of the nave aisle vault and leans on the exterior of the nave
or choir wall.
lierne
Small subordinate ribs inserted between the main ribs of Gothic
vaults.
limestone
General name for a type of sedimentary rock existing in many
varieties, consisting primarily of calcite or dolomite. Used
as a building material.
lintel
Horizontal structural elements that span an opening in a wall
for door and window openings that carry the superimposed weight
of the wall above the opening. The lintel may be decorated
with decorative elements or narrative scenes sculpted in relief.
lunette
Crescent-shaped or semicircular space, either recessed or
projecting, on a wall or vaulted ceiling, framed by an arch
or vault and sometimes used as a setting for sculpture.
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